The Syracuse Orange finished their regular season with an uninspired 16-7 loss to the Boston College Eagles on Saturday, but you already knew that. Once again Syracuse's impotent offense, save for one drive, was unable to move the ball or help out a defense that got pushed around by a decidedly mediocre Boston College team.
While the game itself was miserable to watch (as all home games were this year) the real kick in the balls for Syracuse fans came when Doug Marrone sent out the punting unit when faced with a 4th and 2, down 16-9 with a little more than 5 minutes remaining. With SU down two scores and on it's own 28 yard line, Marrone sent up the white flag and told the world he had no faith in his offense. In his post-game press conference, the coach explained his decision as "time management" but frankly, it was more like giving up.
Marrone explained he thought he could punt, use his timeouts, gain field position, and then score and get an on-side kick. Under that logic the defense would have to stop the run - something it couldn't do all day, and the special teams would have to make a play - something it hadn't done all year.
But here's the thing - if SU goes for it and gets it and then ends up putting points on the board (unlikely, I know) then SU wouldn't have to use an on-side kick. They could have scored, kicked off, called their time outs and tried to get the ball back. If they didn't get it and BC scores, well guess what, SU is still down two scores. Which is the same position they were in when they punted.
It sent a terrible message to his team - that the coaching staff didn't believe they could get two yards when they absolutely needed it -- and it sent the same message to the fans. Look, the odds were against SU winning at that point, but not going for it there was a coach playing not to lose instead of playing to win. It was the exact opposite of what Randy Edsall did a few weeks ago against Pitt. It was weak. It wasn't fun to watch and it still leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. Make no mistake about it, Doug Marrone knows more about football than I ever will -- but in this instance, he was wrong.
As for the rest of the game it was basically a replay of the last four:
- Syracuse was beaten soundly in the trenches but still managed to only give up 16 points.
- The offense was flat out bad -- and all the usual problems surfaced again. Ryan Nassib leaves too many plays on the field and as the season has worn on his feet have become more and more happy.
- The offensive line is leaky and mistake prone and the receivers, with the exception of Marcus Sales, don't really get open or catch the ball too often.
- Of course Sales was on the pine for the first 8 games of the season since he apparently is a really bad practice player. Here's some advice for next year on Marcus - beat the crap out of him at practice -- push him, make him run more, do whatever you've got to do, and then put him on the field regardless of what he does, because when the lights go on, he makes plays. That's now an established fact.
- Also, the game plan hasn't changed all year. It's an ultra-conservative approach that most of the time doesn't even try to challenge the defense vertically.
So with that, we wrap up a 7-5 regular season and quite honestly I'm a little relieved. Traveling from Albany, Syracuse home games eat up my weekends and while I love it, the Orange haven't beaten a Division I team at home in over a year. This comes on top of 5 years of awful football coupled with steadily escalating ticket prices, so you'll have to pardon me if my patience is a little thin.
This program is still rebuilding and overall this season was a success, but that doesn't mean it was a lot of fun to watch -- at least in person. So with that, the Orange can get healthier and prepare for a bowl game. The extra practice and exposure will help a program that needs it. In the meantime, I'll be glad to take a few weeks off from watching Nick Provo run unsuccessful 3 yard dig routes.
While the game itself was miserable to watch (as all home games were this year) the real kick in the balls for Syracuse fans came when Doug Marrone sent out the punting unit when faced with a 4th and 2, down 16-9 with a little more than 5 minutes remaining. With SU down two scores and on it's own 28 yard line, Marrone sent up the white flag and told the world he had no faith in his offense. In his post-game press conference, the coach explained his decision as "time management" but frankly, it was more like giving up.
Marrone explained he thought he could punt, use his timeouts, gain field position, and then score and get an on-side kick. Under that logic the defense would have to stop the run - something it couldn't do all day, and the special teams would have to make a play - something it hadn't done all year.
But here's the thing - if SU goes for it and gets it and then ends up putting points on the board (unlikely, I know) then SU wouldn't have to use an on-side kick. They could have scored, kicked off, called their time outs and tried to get the ball back. If they didn't get it and BC scores, well guess what, SU is still down two scores. Which is the same position they were in when they punted.
It sent a terrible message to his team - that the coaching staff didn't believe they could get two yards when they absolutely needed it -- and it sent the same message to the fans. Look, the odds were against SU winning at that point, but not going for it there was a coach playing not to lose instead of playing to win. It was the exact opposite of what Randy Edsall did a few weeks ago against Pitt. It was weak. It wasn't fun to watch and it still leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. Make no mistake about it, Doug Marrone knows more about football than I ever will -- but in this instance, he was wrong.
As for the rest of the game it was basically a replay of the last four:
- Syracuse was beaten soundly in the trenches but still managed to only give up 16 points.
- The offense was flat out bad -- and all the usual problems surfaced again. Ryan Nassib leaves too many plays on the field and as the season has worn on his feet have become more and more happy.
- The offensive line is leaky and mistake prone and the receivers, with the exception of Marcus Sales, don't really get open or catch the ball too often.
- Of course Sales was on the pine for the first 8 games of the season since he apparently is a really bad practice player. Here's some advice for next year on Marcus - beat the crap out of him at practice -- push him, make him run more, do whatever you've got to do, and then put him on the field regardless of what he does, because when the lights go on, he makes plays. That's now an established fact.
- Also, the game plan hasn't changed all year. It's an ultra-conservative approach that most of the time doesn't even try to challenge the defense vertically.
So with that, we wrap up a 7-5 regular season and quite honestly I'm a little relieved. Traveling from Albany, Syracuse home games eat up my weekends and while I love it, the Orange haven't beaten a Division I team at home in over a year. This comes on top of 5 years of awful football coupled with steadily escalating ticket prices, so you'll have to pardon me if my patience is a little thin.
This program is still rebuilding and overall this season was a success, but that doesn't mean it was a lot of fun to watch -- at least in person. So with that, the Orange can get healthier and prepare for a bowl game. The extra practice and exposure will help a program that needs it. In the meantime, I'll be glad to take a few weeks off from watching Nick Provo run unsuccessful 3 yard dig routes.
5 comments:
While I'm happy to see SU back above .500 at the end of a football season, it's been a bit difficult to watch and enjoy at times. With a top 15 defense in the country, it feels like the offense has been almost the throwaway part of the team since the 2nd half of the Louisville game. 28 points in the last 3 1/2 games (3 in 2nd half vs. Louisville, 13 vs Rutgers, 6 each vs. UConn & BC) makes me feel like they didn't even want to try and score points and were content on hoping that the defense would keep them in the game as long as possible.
I know I should be thankful that the days of G-Rob are gone and that we're slowly building up to being a relevant program again. However, it's tough to feel like the offensive playbook was put away once the team got to 7 wins and became bowl-eligible.
*Correction: I was off a point... We actually scored a touchdown in the BC game, giving us 7 points instead of 6, and 29 total...
Not that it changes my point much, but still...
Agreed man - they really need to add some playmakers on offense
I think I predicted 5-7 at the end of last year on this site. I'm happy to have been proven wrong (and going to a bowl game to boot).
I suspect that the team is pretty tired from playing eight weeks in a row (though that doesn't excuse some other things).
This being said, I have to say that November has been a deep disappointment.
The offense has been nonexistent, the defense decent most of the time and the special teams crap. Overall, this team really isn't all that good talent-wise (something a lot of people should consider). They have a few talented players, but overall, they're just not that talented. They have a solid defense and...that's about it.
An interesting note: if you take out the two Division 1-AA (yeah, I know there's a new term for it, but it's nonsense) teams, the offense has averaged a grand whopping 16 points per game.
This team is definitely several years off from being a good team. I still have faith in Marrone, but people need to be patient with this team. It's still filled with GRob players and it will take time for Marrone's recruits to get experience. Being in a bowl game (my guess is Pinstripe) will certainly help with recruiting. We'll see how well Marrone does with recruiting next year.
Great Post as usual Neph: I was at the game and root canal would have been preferable. I didn't like the punt call either but Marrone has done a great job-seemingly with smoke and mirrors. Lets just hope that the recruiting picks up big time.I wouldn't mind us going to the Pinstripe Bowl. If we could make a good showing there it should help recruiting since Marrone is from the Bronx and he is trying to recruit in NYC and northern NJ. It should also help that we beat Rutgers at Rutgers. Imagine what Marrone could do witha few more guys who can actually play at this level. Take care, Uncle Dave
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